


A Quiet Night

by OpheliaGlorfindal



Series: In The Eye of The Hurricane [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Character Study, Dragon Age II - Act 3, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff without Plot, Hope, Hopeful Ending, Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Light Angst, Mage Hawke (Dragon Age), Mental Health Issues, Post-Dragon Age II Quest - Alone, Romance, Romantic Fluff, fenhawke - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23535187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpheliaGlorfindal/pseuds/OpheliaGlorfindal
Summary: “I’d like to see them try,” Hawke said finally, breaking the silence, “Could you imagine the Templars trying to arrest the Champion of Kirkwall?”His back stiffened. The mere idea of the Templars attempting to drag Hawke to the Circle gave him a sense of quiet unease that snaked its way through his body. He frowned as he looked down at her.“I would not allow it.”After dragging Hawke away from a bar fight in the Hanged Man, Fenris reflects on the man he used to be and looks to the future.
Relationships: Fenris & Female Hawke, Fenris/Female Hawke
Series: In The Eye of The Hurricane [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575235
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	A Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> FYI: There is some angst and mention of Fenris' mental health issues, but I've tried to keep it light.

“Hawke, slow down,” Fenris called as he followed her out of the Hanged Man.

The door of the tavern swung shut with a loud thud and he had barely time to register the rush of the cool night air on his face when he saw Aurelie Hawke stalk and then stumble her way through the deserted market of Lowtown. She glanced over her shoulder at him. Despite the angry look in her eye, she managed to give him a tipsy smile.

“Aww Fenris, you don’t need to worry about me,” she said, sitting down on the steps that led to Hightown, “I can take care of myself you know. I wear big girl pants and everything.”

He rolled his eyes at her. There was no way he was going to let her wander around Kirkwall drunk and alone at night. The last time she had, she’d nearly been kidnapped by mercenaries and if he hadn’t been around to step in — well, the alternative did not bear thinking about.

“If you’re such a big girl, then you should know better than to try and start a bar fight.”

Aurelie glanced up at him, her eyes narrowed.

“Those men started it,” she told him as she brushed a rebellious strand of auburn hair behind her ear, “They were saying horrible things about you and Merrill.”

Fenris raised his eyebrow. The corner of his mouth curled upwards slightly, betraying his amusement. 

“That doesn’t mean that you had to threaten them with fireballs,” He told her as he sat down next to her, trying to ignore the indignant look in her bright blue eyes, “They weren’t worth it.”

“So what? Next time someone insults you like that, I’m supposed to let it go?” she replied hotly, “What kind of person would that make me? Someone who wouldn’t defend her own lover?”

 _Lover._ Fenris felt a jolt in his stomach when he heard her say the word. It sounded strange and foreign to hear Hawke refer to him that way, as though she should be calling someone else her lover and not him. He felt a smile bloom across his face. As alien as the word sounded, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of contentment when he heard her say it. 

“No,” he replied, his voice a touch more stern than he’d intended, “You would be the kind of person who would know that I have had many of those encounters and have realised that they aren’t worth the fight.”

“Still doesn’t make it right.”

Fenris scoffed.

“Still doesn’t make it worth it,” he replied.

Hawke gave him a wicked grin.

“Says you, Mister Rip-Hearts-Out-And-Ask-Questions-Later,” she quipped. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

Fenris’ mouth twitched at the memory of the person he used to be; a vicious man fixated on revenge. Someone with no hope and no future. Someone who was barely surviving. 

“Not so much any more,” he said softly as he wrapped his arm around her, “But you still need to be careful — what if those men go to the Templars?”

Hawke let out a laugh.

“Maker’s breath, Fenris, you’ve changed! We must have argued about this for days!”

He bristled at her words. They would never be able to fully agree about the treatment of mages. Not after everything he had been through. Not after the things Hawke had seen and experienced. As much as her choices regarding mages had frustrated him over the years, he had never once considered handing her over to the Templars. She had been the first mage, the only mage, who had proved strong and disciplined enough to resist the lure of blood magic. She had been the first person to treat him as a man and not a pet to be shown off and feared.

“For the better, I hope,” he said softly, gazing up at the stars that were shining down on them. 

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the unusually quiet atmosphere of Kirkwall at night. Fenris felt as though they were both living in the heart of a storm even more now that they were together. Both of them had somehow managed to find a sense of peace, while all around them the tensions between the Templars and mages raged on and on and on.

“I’d like to see them try,” Hawke said finally, breaking the silence, “Could you imagine the Templars trying to arrest the Champion of Kirkwall?”

His back stiffened. The mere idea of the Templars attempting to drag Hawke to the Circle gave him a sense of quiet unease that snaked its way through his body. He frowned as he looked down at her.

“I would not allow it.” 

She chuckled. It did nothing to ease the sense of disquiet that was sitting in the back of his head. A life without Hawke, would be a life without hope. Not just for him but for Kirkwall too. She was the one person who seemed to be keeping the peace, the only person who had the ability to stop the city from breaking out into a rebellion.

“And thank the Maker for that,” she replied, “Though if they did manage it, at least I’d be there with Merrill and Anders. I’m sure we’d have a laugh, teasing Cullen and —”

“— Hawke, stop it.”

He gave her a stricken look. He didn’t want to be reminded of the delicate tightrope that she had to traverse because of the accident of her birth. She was lucky, lucky that she had been allowed to remain an apostate, when many still lived in fear; that she had Varric and Aveline to vouch for her when she needed it. Her fame as the Champion of Kirkwall was the only thing that had been protecting her from the Templars and by extension, Anders and Merrill. Though they were both prime examples as to why the Circle was needed.

“Though, I think we would be all right,” Aurelie continued, “You and Varric and Isabela would probably help us to escape. Ha! Imagine the look on Meredith’s face if the Champion of Kirkwall escaped from the Circle!”

She was laughing again, apparently unaware that her flippancy was needling him.

“Hawke, I mean it. Shut. Up.”

She glanced up at him and her laughter died when she saw the apprehensive expression he was wearing. There was a soft, sad look in her eyes as she reached up to cup his face in the palm of her hand.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I didn’t realise.”

She kissed him, soft and gentle. The fruity taste of ale was still on her lips. He relaxed a little, his body yielding itself over to her. His free hand drifted to the back of her head and his fingers tangled themselves in her silky auburn hair. The feel of her lips against his, the weight of her body against his own was the only tangible reminder that this was his reality no matter how dream-like it felt. They broke apart and he leaned his forehead against hers, exhaling a breathe he did not even know he had been holding. 

How? How did she manage to calm his jangling anxieties with a simple kiss? No, it was more than that. He was calm when she was around him. Somehow, he was better able to temper the tempest of emotions that constantly raged inside him and quiet the screaming thoughts that raced through his brain when he was in her presence. He could tell her anything and she wouldn’t judge him for it. She was his safety, his home. And he hoped that he could be hers in return. 

“What is it?” she asked him, her voice gentle, “What’s on your mind?”

“Just promise me that you will be careful. I can’t lose you, Aurelie.”

Her strawberry red lips quirked upwards into a soft smile as she stroked his cheek with her thumb.

“ _I am_ careful,” she replied, meeting his gaze with her own, “And I will be, I promise.”

She brushed his silvery hair out of his eyes as he heaved his shoulders. The weight of his anxieties had lessened somewhat. Why? Why did he have to ruin these perfect moments with Hawke? The dark little voice in the back of his head was always there poisoning his mind with dark disquieting thoughts when he should be tranquil and content. It never ends, he thought; a sense of melancholy looming over him like a storm cloud on a sunny day. Couldn’t he just be happy?

“Fenris?” she said again, but this time with a hint of trepidation in her voice.

He looked down at her, suddenly pulled away from his thoughts. 

“Yes, what is it?”

There was a brief pause. Her blue eyes were wide and she was biting her lip. He took her hand, lacing her fingers with his own. She took a breath.

“I’m going to support the mages,” she said, “If it comes down to it, I mean.”

He gave her a small smile. He had acknowledged that she would support the mages to himself long ago. A small selfish part of him wished that she would listen to him when he told her not to, but he understood. She was a mage herself and to denounce them would be to reject everything that she was. 

“I know,” he said simply, giving her fingers a reassuring squeeze. Hawke looked up at him and licked her lip quickly.

“Are you sure?” she asked him, tucking her hair behind her ear, “I know how you feel about magic. You — you are sure that you are okay with this? You don’t hate me?”

“I could never hate you, Hawke,” he told her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He smiled as her expression brightened at his words, “I do not like your decision, but I respect it nonetheless.”

He grunted as she gave him a sudden, all encompassing hug. Her affectionate arms squeezed the air out of his lungs slightly. His muscles relaxed as he wrapped his arms around her.

“What did I do to deserve you?” she exclaimed softly, burying her face into his chest. 

Fenris held her tightly to his chest, catching the citrus scent of her hair. He smiled to himself. Maybe he would never rid himself of this darkness. But maybe it didn’t matter. As long as he had Hawke by his side, facing it with him; it wouldn’t matter. She gave him the hope of a future and with that, the strength to resist it. And maybe, just maybe that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote some FenHawke fluff! This comes from the headcannon that Mage!Hawke managed to avoid the Templars because she had Aveline and Varric to cover for her. Also, I think Meredith was reluctant to drag Hawke off to the Circle after she became Champion because she didn't want it widely known that an apostate mage had saved Kirkwall from a Qunari invasion. (There is headcannon for days)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and comments and feedback are also welcome. :) 
> 
> Stay sane and stay safe everyone!


End file.
